


Set Me Free

by babycrowshouyou



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Paranormal, Child Death, Child Ghosts, Daichi's a Medium, Gen, Ghost Hunters, Inspired by Ghost Stories, Mentions of Death, Mentions of Murder, Relationship present but not focused on, nothing too graphic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-05
Updated: 2017-01-05
Packaged: 2018-09-14 23:51:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9210701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/babycrowshouyou/pseuds/babycrowshouyou
Summary: "Miyashi Hospital Shut Down Following Report of Missing Children""Last Tuesday, Doctor Sugashi Kentaro, president of Miyashi Hospital, announced the facility's closure following the lawsuits filed against them by two families, both claiming their children going missing without explanation. With these disappearances, it appears that there are a suspected seven other children who have also gone missing, although that is yet to be confirmed by the families or the facility itself. More details on page A6."Exploring haunted locations is nothing new to the Dark Wing Paranormal Research Society. Upon exploring the infamous Miyashi Hospital, however, Daichi, Suga, Asahi, and Ennoshita get much more than they bargained for.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so, just a heads-up, I spooked myself just while writing and proofreading this, so it might be creepy and spooky to you, or I just might be a wimp when it comes to scary stories. Either way, it's kinda dark, kinda heavy, kinda sad. Whatever the case, I really hope you all enjoy this; I've been working on it since September, and while it definitely did not go in the direction I had originally anticipated, I'm not unhappy with the results. That being said, enjoy!

“We really shouldn't do this. We're gonna get caught, I can't go to jail guys, I'm only 22! I'll never graduate from college, I'll never get a job, and worst of all, my mom’ll be pissed!!”

Daichi turned toward his friend, agitation making his eyebrow twitch.

“Oh, c’mon, Asahi, stop being such a baby. We're not gonna get caught, unless someone opens their big mouth.” Daichi didn't mean to be so rude, but all of Asahi’s worrying was making him anxious.

“Daichi, don't be such an ass; Asahi, just calm down, okay? It'll be alright, we've done this before! Now, help Ennoshita set up our headcams.” Suga, ever the voice of reason, smiled brightly at their nervous friend as he made sure their equipment was properly charged. Daichi went back to carefully picking the padlock holding together the thick chains, which were woven through the handles of the back door to the abandoned hospital they wanted to explore, his fingers moving quickly.

Behind him, Suga glanced over at Asahi before lightly patting his shoulder reassuringly, which only caused him to jump in surprise. Poor guy was a nervous wreck already; the last thing he needed was sneaking into an abandoned, haunted hospital. He’d really only agreed to come because the hospital was so large, and in order to explore all of it, they’d have to split up, and Daichi didn’t want anyone going off on their own.

As Daichi worked on the lock, he kept hearing what sounded like soft cries and whispers, but marked it off as his imagination getting hyped up before their investigation. Besides, if the giggles were from ghosts, that just meant that maybe they’d actually find and capture something this time, rather than have this investigation be a bust like their last one.

Finally, the lock fell open, and Daichi was quick to catch the chains before they could fall and cause a ruckus.

“Okay, we're in.” Daichi turned to his team, a triumphant smirk pulling at his cheeks. He turned his attention Ennoshita, who was still fiddling with their headcams. “Ennoshita, are the cameras set up? I wanna make sure we catch our entrance on camera, get that eerie setup for when we edit, you know?”

Ennoshita looked up at him, smiling sleepily.

“They’re ready to go. They should be one hundred percent charged, so hopefully they won’t die unless we actually catch something this time.” He snickered to himself as the other three took their cameras and put them on. After powering them all up and grabbing their respective equipment from Suga’s bag (EMF and thermal reader for Suga, spirit box and voice recorder for Daichi, high-res camera for Ennoshita, and thermal camera for Asahi), Daichi stood before the doors, hands on his hips as he readied his usual speech.

“My name is Sawamura Daichi, leader of the Dark Wing Paranormal Research Society. Today, my team and I are exploring the notorious Miyashi Hospital, which closed down in 1953 when it was discovered that several nurses were killing their child patients in cold blood, and hiding their bodies away in places that still have yet to be discovered. Trespassing is strictly prohibited, but if you’ve been following us for a while, then you know that’s never stopped us before! Also, some of you may have noticed, but we have a new member joining our little team! Azumane Asahi, a good friend of ours, has made the bold decision to move up from just our editor to a full-blown investigator starting tonight! Now, with all that said and done, let’s get started.” With a wicked smirk pointed directly at Suga’s headcam (since he was the one directly across from Daichi), he turned and pushed the heavy doors open, allowing the rapidly fading light from the setting sun to fall into the dusty, decaying lobby. Daichi held the door open for everyone after entering, allowing Ennoshita, Asahi, and Suga to walk inside. Only Suga paused at his side, a coy smile stretched across his lips as he looked up at Daichi.

“Don’t get lost tonight, captain. We can hold hands, if you want to.” He snickered, and Daichi rolled his eyes, unable to fight back the smile growing on his lips.

“I think you just want to hold hands because you’re scared, Suga.” At this, Suga full-on giggled before leaning up to press his lips to Daichi’s in a quick, chaste kiss.

“Will you protect me if I am, Dai~chi?” he cooed softly, lips still close enough to brush Daichi’s as he spoke. A shiver that had nothing to do with their surroundings ran up and down Daichi’s spine as he smirked down at Suga, his heart speeding up a bit.

“Always.”

Suga smiled and kissed him again before walking further inside to stand by Ennoshita, who was pointedly looking away, his expression indifferent. He was used to their flirting by now, and was quick to just ignore them. Asahi, on the other hand, was completely red in the face as he quickly looked away from the two, obviously a bit flustered. Daichi just shook his head and chuckled before closing the door behind him and walking over to his three teammates. The whispering seemed to have grown a little louder now that they were inside, but that wasn’t nearly enough to faze Daichi.

“Alright, everyone got their flashlights? Walkies?” All three held up the items in question, at which Daichi nodded. “Good, good. So, we’ll meet here at 11, 2, and 5 o’clock. First three hours, it’ll be Ennoshita and I in the north wing, first and second floor, Asahi and Suga in the south wing on the third and fourth floors; then it’ll be Suga and I back in the north wing, third and fourth floors, Ennoshita and Asahi back in the south wing, first and second floors; for the last three hours, it’ll be Asahi and I in the emergency wing, Ennoshita and Suga in the psychiatric wing. We all meet right back here at 5 a.m., and then we all get the hell outta here. Sound good? Any questions?” Daichi looked around at his team, assessing their conditions: Ennoshita looked tired (but somehow also ready to go), Suga looked positively enthusiastic, and Asahi looked about ready to puke. Daichi nodded to himself; all were ready to go.

“Alright, team, remember: do not hesitate to call over the walkies if something is wrong, do not leave your partner for any amount of time, and for fuck’s sake, _do not_ touch anything. Everyone clear?” With a round of nods, Daichi clapped his hands together and beamed. “Then let’s get going!”

The four split off into their pairs and went toward their respective destinations, all a bit nervous and thrilled at the same time. If there was one reason Daichi stuck with ghost hunting, it was for the rush of adrenaline he always got when entering a new place.

Daichi had been into the paranormal (especially ghosts) since he was little; he was what some mediums called “sensitive”, in that he could sometimes catch glimpses or voices of spirits around him, although that ability had since grown stronger as he had grown older. He’d first discovered this gift around the age of 11, when his father had passed away. He hadn’t necessarily been close to him, since his parents were divorced, but a few nights after his passing, Daichi had woken up from a dream he could no longer remember and saw his father at the foot of his bed, his face twisted into an expression of guilt. He’d uttered only two words, “I’m sorry,” before disappearing from Daichi’s sight. Ever since, he’d been able to see and hear more and more spirits, and eventually decided to make a career out of it, along with his closest friends. He wasn’t exactly closed off about his “gift”, as they often referenced it for their show, but the only person who knew absolutely everything about it was Suga.

Daichi and Ennoshita crept along the dark, mildewy hallways toward the north wing, on alert for any strange noises (or appearances, in Daichi's case). The setting sun, slightly dimmed by the filthy windows, cast long, ink-black shadows across the floor before them, nearly completely opaque, like they threatened to swallow up the various objects already mostly submerged in them. Ennoshita turned his head toward Daichi, pointing his camera at him.

“Are you picking anything up, Daichi? Any voices, figures?”

Daichi glanced up at him as he dodged a stray bedside table before looking back at the hallway before them.

“Nothing besides a few whispers here and there, but other than that I’m only feeling some kind of… heaviness, I guess? Like an overarching feeling of despair left over, you know? But no other solid voices or figures yet.” Ennoshita nodded and turned back to the hallway before them, holding his camera in steady hands. That was one thing Daichi admired about him; he often seemed indifferent or laid back, but he was always steady, sure of himself and of his comrades.

The two men picked their way through the first floor of the north wing, getting into whatever rooms were available to them. While Daichi was all for picking locks to get into places, he never picked locks while inside the buildings themselves; he knew better than to disturb the peace by getting into a room that was obviously not for them to see.

As the sun settled beyond the horizon, throwing their whole world into darkness, Daichi and Ennoshita switched on the night vision mode on their headcams and pulled out their flashlights in order to maintain visuals of their surroundings. They continued making their way through the halls, stopping every so often when Daichi would sense something shifting in order to try and get some recordings or capture a figure in pictures.

It wasn’t until they reached a room labelled **CHAPEL** next to the decaying double doors, both nearly hanging off their hinges, that Daichi had to stop and rest his hands on his knees. His head was suddenly spinning, making his stomach lurch in a way that almost made him sick on the spot. He’d felt a little nauseous before when encountering spirits, but never as bad as this. He sucked down a deep breath, willing the oxygen entering his system to steady his head, and Ennoshita was quickly by his side.

“Daichi, are you okay? Is there something here?” He looked up and pointed his flashlight into the chapel, hoping to catch the thing was was making Daichi feel sick. Daichi took a few more deep breaths before straightening up and rubbing his head, his eyes drawn toward the dark room before them.

“We have to go in here; something’s pulling me.” His voice was still stable, with only a hint of shakiness near the end as he started walking into the room. He could hear soft whispers, quiet and jumbled enough that he couldn’t understand what they were saying. He walked until he reached the altar, a rotted, moldy-looking thing, and felt his body freeze; this was where the spirits wanted him to stay. Ennoshita followed carefully, taking pictures of the three rows of short pews as he passed them, hoping to capture something. He finally reached Daichi and stood beside him, facing him so that his headcam was focused on his face.

“Daichi…? You good?” Ennoshita’s voice was barely above a whisper; he didn’t want to break the connection Daichi had obviously stumbled into.

“Yeah, I… yeah. I wanna set up the spirit box here, see if we can get any of the voices I’m hearing right now.” Ennoshita had to lean closer to catch Daichi’s voice; he was staring off toward the pews, his eyes distant in the light of Ennoshita’s flashlight, even as he pulled out the spirit box from his backpack. Ennoshita had to admit, there was definitely a chill in the air; he could feel goosebumps rising across his body, his body hair prickling as he glanced around the room.

The sudden burst of static almost startled Ennoshita into dropping his camera, which really caught him off guard; he was never one to startle easily, not even while they were exploring that old manor a few months back, where an entire family of eight had been slaughtered 80 years ago, and Suga had decided that it would be hilarious to hide in an old wardrobe to jump out and scare the two of them. Daichi had been pissed, partially because Suga had gone off by himself and messed with something he shouldn’t have, and partially because he had nearly pissed himself from fright.

Ennoshita turned back to Daichi, who was holding the spirit box in his hands. Ennoshita noticed that he also had goosebumps running across his forearms, raising the hairs one by one. Once Daichi had the flashlight on him again, he covered the spirit box and started speaking.

“Who’s here with us right now? Were you one of the victims murdered by a nurse here?” He pulled his hand from the speaker, allowing static to fill the room again. The two waited for a couple minutes, hoping for any type of response. After not getting anything, Daichi pursed his lips and covered the box again.

“I know you’re here; I can feel you. Can you at least tell us your name, or your age?” Static filled the air and Ennoshita found himself holding his breath in anticipation. They waited a few more minutes, and just before Daichi covered the box again, a single word came through, slicing the static like a knife.

“… dying…”

A small gasp escaped Daichi’s lips and he quickly covered the spirit box again.

“Was that you? Are you dying? Can you tell us anything else?” Ennoshita started snapping more pictures as they waited, the odd prickling feeling now crawling up the back of his neck.

“-t hurts… nurse…” Daichi turned toward Ennoshita, his eyes wide and no longer distant.

“Shit, did you hear that?!” He turned back to the pews, his eyes alight in wonder.

“Did a nurse do something to you? Did she hurt you?” His eyes moved around quickly, flitting from pew to pew in search of the spirit making contact. Finally, his eyes settled on the farthest pew on the right, his eyebrows drawn down into a look of worry.

“Oh… you were so young…” he breathed, and Ennoshita quickly snapped pictures of the spot at which Daichi was staring, hoping to see what he was seeing.

The spirit was a young boy, maybe 7 or 8, with dark, almost pitch black hair that contrasted with his drab, light grey hospital gown. His eyes were bloodshot, his lips blue and trembling as he held his knees up to his chest. A soft whimper escaped his lips, barely audible, and Daichi was quick to shut off the spirit box in favor of turning on the voice recorder instead, now that the spirit was with them. He slowly made his way toward the boy, careful to keep his footsteps light to avoid startling him. Ennoshita followed closely, still taking pictures. Daichi knelt down by the boy and rested his hand on the pew next to him before speaking.

“Hi… My name’s Daichi. Can you tell me yours?”

The boy slowly looked up at him, shock obvious on his face as his eyes widened.

“You can see me?” he whispered, his voice soft and raspy, like he had a sore throat. Daichi nodded and smiled softly, encouraging him to say more. The boy swallowed visibly and rubbed his arms before continuing. “My name’s Mei… Why am I here, Daichi? What happened to this place? I don’t remember it looking so bad. Do you know where my parents are? I miss them a lot…” He trailed off and sniffled lightly, his nose scrunching up to keep from crying. Daichi’s face fell as he tried to figure out what to say to this poor boy.

“Well, Mei… Do you, ah, do you know what happened to you?” He tried wording it as delicately as possible, just in case the boy didn’t know he had died. Mei looked back up at him and nodded a little, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth.

“I died… right? One of the nurses was helping me eat, and gave me too big of a bite… I choked and tried to get her to help me, but she just smiled and… and…” He sniffled, a soft sob cutting his words off. He put his head in his hands and cried softly. It was times like these that Daichi wished he could actually touch spirits; the boy obviously needed comfort, yet Daichi couldn’t give it to him. Before he could even answer, a staticky voice blared from both his and Ennoshita’s walkie talkies, startling both men and making Daichi fall back on his ass. He pulled out his walkie, still alive with Suga’s frantic voice.

“-chi, can you hear me? Daichi, we have a serious problem, please get back to me, over!” Daichi frowned and quickly pressed down on the button to talk.

“Suga, what’s wrong? What’s happening, over?” He looked up at Ennoshita worriedly, momentarily forgetting about the spirit next to them. He jumped again when Suga’s voice crackled over the feed.

“Asahi disappeared. One second, he was right behind me, but when I turned around to tell him something, he was just gone! I’ve looked everywhere, Dai, I don’t know where he went! I’m back at the base now, because I thought maybe he’d gone back, you know? But he’s not here either!”

“Suga, Suga, hey, calm down, breathe. He’s gotta be here somewhere, okay? Ennoshita and I are on our way to you, just stay put. Over and out.” Daichi frowned as he stood, ready to run to Suga if he had to. Before he could turn away, however, a small giggle at his right reminded him that the boy’s spirit was still with them, and he quickly turned to look down at him. The tears had long since dried, and instead of the scared pout that had been on his lips previously, he was wearing a devious smirk.

“Tick tock, tick tock… I doubt they’ll let your friend live very long, Dai-chan; we don’t really enjoy having living humans here. Why should you be allowed to live, while all of us had our lives stolen by those wretched nurses before we were ready?” His head tilted to the side, almost at a perfect 90 degree angle, and the shine in his eyes made Daichi’s skin break out into goosebumps. “I only have one word of advice for you, Dai-chan: run.” After giving his advice, Mei started laughing hysterically, his eyes rolling back into his skull. Between laughs, he chanted out “tick tock, tick tock”, and Daichi had to cover his ears due to the sheer loudness of it. He looked up at Ennoshita, whose eyes were wide with shock as he stared at where the boy was rocking back and forth, still in hysterics, and it clicked in Daichi’s mind that the spirit had managed to gather enough power to show himself to Ennoshita, too. Before anything else could go wrong, Daichi quickly grabbed Ennoshita’s arm and dragged him out of the chapel. The two sprinted back to the front lobby, dodging shattered plant pots and wheelchairs and tables expertly, both high on adrenaline and desperation to get away from the chapel.

They finally reached the lobby, panting and nearly collapsing on the floor. Suga ran to Daichi, eyes wide with worry and concern as he grasped the front of Daichi’s shirt.

“Thank god you two are okay! God, I’m so worried, Dai; I still don’t know where Asahi is, and we can’t leave without him, we just can’t.” Suga’s hands were shaking violently as he tried to maintain his grip on Daichi’s shirt, and Daichi reached up to gently pry his fingers loose in order to hold his hands tightly.

“We're not leaving without him, I promise. The three of us will find him, and then we're getting the fuck outta here; I don't think the spirits are all too happy that we came.” Daichi frowned, thinking back to Mei’s deranged expression as he laughed, and shuddered before focusing back on Suga, who looked a little calmer, and a lot more determined.

“We all have to stick together, though; no one goes off alone, no one leaves anyone’s sight. Got it?” Suga nodded, and Daichi look over his shoulder to lock eyes with Ennoshita, who gave a curt nod of his head. “Ennoshita, I want you to keep taking pictures; sometimes, the camera can pick up a spirit’s location before I can, and that'll definitely come in handy if we want to stay alert. We should also keep the headcams on; if we all make it out of here, it'll be one hell of an episode.” Daichi gave a small, half-hearted smirk, hoping to lighten the mood a bit. Suga gave a small snort and grabbed his flashlight from the filthy front desk before turning to look at the other two men.

“Let’s go find our damn tech man.”

 

* * *

 

Walking back through the south wing seemed like the most logical place to start, and the last thing Daichi or Ennoshita wanted was to go anywhere near the north wing again, so the three trekked up the staircase near the front lobby up to the third floor, hoping to find Asahi quickly so that they could all leave. Daichi led the way, keeping his eye out and ears open for any signs of restless spirits nearby. Suga followed close behind, his slightly shaky hand causing the light from his flashlight to waver before Daichi. Ennoshita brought up the rear, the flash from his camera the only sign reassuring Daichi that he was still there.

Despite the warning from Mei, the south wing seemed pretty calm; Daichi wasn't picking up any figures or voices, not even faint whispers like he'd heard in the chapel before Mei had appeared. Normally, he wouldn't mind the silence, but here, it just felt… eerie. The only sounds they could hear were of their soft footfalls and the occasional click of the camera shutter, but even those seemed more muted than usual.

They walked through the filthy halls until Suga suddenly stopped, grabbing Daichi’s shirt and attention. Daichi turned to him, frowning as he took in Suga’s worried expression.

“Suga? What's up?” Daichi gently removed Suga’s hand from the back of his shirt so he could turn all the way around, and waved Ennoshita over so that no one was out of his direct line of sight. Daichi gently rubbed Suga’s knuckles, coaxing him into talking about what was gnawing at him.

“It's just… this is where I lost Asahi. I honestly have no clue where he could've gone… what if we don't find him, Daichi? He's my best friend, I don't know what I'll do without him.” Suga looked up at Daichi, his eyes damp and pleading. Daichi rested his hands on Suga’s cheeks and went up on his tiptoes a bit to plant a soft kiss on his forehead before looking him in the eyes again.

“I said we'd find him, and I meant it. We're not leaving until we do.” He rubbed Suga’s cheeks with his thumbs until Suga nodded, then let him go so they could start walking again.

“I know I always say not to open doors that aren't already open for us, but desperate times call for desperate measures. Now, I only have one lock picking kit for the doors that are locked, but since we're not splitting up anyway, it should work, it'll just take some time.” Daichi glanced around at the doors around them. Every single door was shut, which wasn't necessarily a good sign. Hopefully, opening them wouldn't release more bad energy, but it was a risk Daichi was willing to take. Besides, if anything bad came out, it'd most likely be more drawn to Daichi than anyone else, and he was okay with that.

Daichi drew in a deep breath as he walked up to the closest door, heart pounding in his chest like he'd never felt before. He glanced at Suga, who looked like he was barely keeping his fear in check, then to Ennoshita, whose eyes were open wider than Daichi’d ever seen. He swallowed once before looking back at the door, and opened it in one quick motion, like ripping off a bandaid. The door banged against the wall, startling him into scurrying backward, but that was all that happened.

It was a normal hospital room, if not a little worse for wear; the bed was still made, although there were holes in the blankets likely made from moths or other creatures that had snuck into the building over time. A thick layer of dust coated everything, almost like a layer of dirty snow. Daichi shivered simply because of the eeriness of the decrepit room, but there was nothing there. Ennoshita stepped up next to Daichi to take a quick photograph of the room, and breathed a quiet sigh of relief when no unexplained figures appeared on the screen. Suga reported the temperature to be normal, and was sure to quickly close the door behind them.

They moved on down the hallway, opening doors with growing anticipation, until they finally got to the last door. Daichi took a deep breath, sent a silent prayer to whatever, or whoever, was listening, and opened the door.

It was a small room, filthy and barren except for the lone plastic chair in the middle of it, which was actually a bit creepy. Daichi frowned and moved a bit closer, checking if he felt anything in the room. It was cold, but that was all he was getting. The flash of Ennoshita’s camera came from his left, and he thought nothing of it until Ennoshita’s breath hitched audibly in his throat.

“Daichi, uh… you might want to look at this…” Daichi glanced back at Ennoshita before walking over to look down at his camera screen. Suga sidled up closer, hand lightly gripping Daichi’s arm. When Daichi looked at the screen, he thought his heart might stop. There, on the chair, sat a young girl, maybe a little older than Mei, staring right at the camera lens, her eyes completely white and slightly glowing. She was slightly transparent, but not enough to clearly see the back of the chair. Her lips were pale and her mouth was gaped open in what looked like a silent scream, but otherwise she was sitting normally. Suga gasped from beside Daichi as he looked at the photo, and his grip got tighter.

Daichi swallowed and slowly looked up from the camera back into the room, half expecting the girl to now be visible. Instead, the chair was still empty, no child in sight. But before Daichi could sigh with relief a quiet whisper at his ear made his blood run cold.

“There’s nowhere to hide, onii-san.” The whisper ended off with a quiet giggle, and suddenly the girl was before his eyes, screaming loud enough to make Daichi fall to his knees in pain, covering his ears. Suga and Ennoshita, unaffected by the screams they couldn’t hear, quickly dropped by Daichi’s sides, asking if he was okay, was he alright, what was wrong. Daichi could do nothing but hold his head, which felt like it was going to split in two, as the little girl held him down with what felt like the strength of thousands of men. Her mouth was open like a snake’s, jaw unhinged like she was going to try and swallow him whole.

_Enough… Enough… Enough…_

“ _ **ENOUGH**_.”

Daichi’s voice boomed down the hall, and suddenly the weight was gone and the hall was silent again. Daichi slowly rose up to a sitting position, blinking away the moisture from his eyes and rubbing his aching neck. His throat felt raw from the scream that had ripped its way out, and he found it was hard to swallow. He glanced to his right to apologize to Suga, but his tongue went numb when he realized Suga was no longer beside him. He quickly turned to the left, only to see that he was totally alone. He stood slowly, legs shaky and hands trembling.

“Suga…? Ennoshita?” he called hesitantly, voice hoarse. He looked around quickly as fear started to grip his heart. He called for them again, louder this time, and started running, opening doors again one by one, but all of the rooms were now just identical replicas of the last room: just a single, empty chair and filth. At the other end of the hall, Daichi collapsed to his knees, gasping for breath and holding back tears. He looked around him, down the halls that branched off from the wing, only to find himself completely and utterly alone. A soft sob made its way past his lips and he hung his head. He rubbed his face with his hands, leaving streaks of dust and dirt down his cheeks.

The sudden sound of giggling from behind him startled him into sitting up straight, and he slowly turned around, eyes falling on the young girl from before, Mei, and a couple other small children. The girl, the oldest of the group, stood at the front of the group, lips pulled out into an unnaturally wide smile. Mei was at her right, a devilish smirk barely present on his lips.

“Hello again, Dai-chan. I’m glad you didn't heed my warning, because now we have you all to ourselves. Whatever will you do now that Fumiko has you?” Mei laughed maniacally, only to be silenced by a wave of the young girl’s hand.

“Hush, Mei; I’ll do the talking.” The girl, Fumiko, walked closer to Daichi, smile never leaving her face. “I’m not a very big fan of that yelling you did, onii-san. I’m also not a very big fan of visitors, especially unwanted ones. It’s not too often that we come across someone who can see us, however; once you revealed to Mei that you could, we just _had_ to get you alone. Those friends of yours were in the way, onii-san, I’m sure you understand that.”

Daichi frowned up at her, heart clenching in his chest.

“What did you do with them…?” he whispered, throat tight.

“Oh, we haven’t done anything yet. You see, we just needed a way to get you here, to my area of the hospital, so I could confirm with my own eyes that you could see us. Right now, you’re simply unconscious because I need to present you with an ultimatum without the prying ears of others around us.” Daichi swallowed and felt his fingers shaking in their grip on his pants.

“I… what?” His voice was quiet, but he refused to let it shake and expose his fear. Fumiko smiled and tilted her head, clasping her hands together as she stepped closer, until she was crouched down just inches from Daichi’s face.

“We’ve never had someone who can hear us come by before. We always get bratty teenagers, some looking to cause trouble, others just looking to fuck in a creepy old hospital.” Daichi winced at the young girl’s profanity; she couldn’t be older than 11, yet she spoke as if she was much, much older. “Do you know how many of them make it past the lobby, onii-san? None of them. Mei is very good at keeping people away from us, as I'm sure you can guess. Normally, just his crying and whispers are enough to get people to leave, but not you. It seems you're used to it, aren't you? All four of you are; it was going to take more than that to get rid of you, so we figured we'd creep you out in the chapel, take your friend and hide him in a bush out front, and you'd all be good as gone. But you, onii-san, you've made things interesting.”

Daichi glanced over the girl’s shoulder in time to see Mei smirk, eyes flashing confidently. Fumiko grabbed his chin in her hand to force his focus back on her, her white eyes blazing, almost bright enough to make Daichi squint.

“I didn’t give you permission to take your attention off of me, now did I? I believe you’ll want to listen to what I have to say. If you don’t comply with our request, you can say goodbye to your friends. We’ve been dying for some new playmates; it can get pretty boring when you’re stuck in one place for eternity, you know.” She giggled happily, eyes crinkling at the corners. Daichi felt his stomach twist in fear and he quickly shook his head before answering.

“N-No, I’ll do it, I’ll do anything. Just don’t hurt them.”

Fumiko’s smile grew even more, if that was possible, making her look more like a demon than a child.

“Oh, onii-san, I just knew you’d say yes.”

 

* * *

 

When Daichi finally awoke, he was still on the floor of the south wing, Suga and Ennoshita back at his sides. Suga looked like he had been close to tears, and Ennoshita just looked scared out of his mind. Daichi let out a small groan as a sharp pain shot through his head, and Suga let out a gasp before collapsing onto Daichi’s chest to wrap his arms around him, his face buried in the crook of his neck.

“Oh my god, Daichi! I was so worried, oh my god, are you okay? Oh my god.” Suga’s voice, while very much welcome, was loud and frantic and making Daichi’s head hurt worse than it already was. He let out another groan and Suga quickly let go to look down at him nervously.

“Oh, sorry, did I hurt you?” Suga cupped Daichi’s cheeks gently, eyes wide and worried. Daichi reached up to gently rest his hand on Suga’s, forcing a small smile.

“Just a headache. That last spirit really did a number on me…” He blinked a few times before sitting up carefully, then suddenly remembered that he knew where Asahi was. “Asahi’s outside, in one of those huge bushes we saw when we were coming in. We can grab him quickly and go.”

“Outside? How the hell did he get out there?”

Daichi stood carefully with Suga’s help before glancing at his friend, only to look back down at his own filthy hands.

“No time to explain, we just need to get him and you guys need to get out of here.” Daichi was about to make his way back to the stairwell, but was stopped by Suga’s hand on his arm. He turned to his boyfriend, whose eyebrows were knit in worry.

“Excuse me? What the fuck do you mean, ‘you guys’? We aren't leaving without you.” Suga’s voice wasn’t scared anymore; instead, he sounded almost angry at Daichi’s choice of wording. Feeling almost guilty, Daichi sighed and took Suga’s hand in his.

“I… I can’t leave yet. The spirits, they asked me to help them in order to move on, and if you guys stay, you’ll only be more at risk if I fail or get caught. Trust me, you’ll want to leave.” Daichi’s expression was serious, trying to persuade Suga to leave, to get to safety. However, as Suga’s lips pressed into a thin, hard line, he knew his persuasion was going to waste. Suga was stubborn; he should’ve known that he wasn’t going to give in so easily.

“I don’t give a fuck about what you think I want to do; I’m not leaving you here alone, danger or no danger. Ennoshita can go find Asahi and they can get out of here, but _I’m not leaving_.” Daichi glanced from Suga to Ennoshita, who looked torn between wanting to leave and wanting to stay. Daichi sighed and looked back at Suga.

“Fine, you can stay. But, Ennoshita,” he looked back up at the man in question, “I want you to go get Asahi, and I want you two to get out of here; Asahi’s been through enough. I don’t care if you take the van; Suga and I will find a way to make it back, if we make it through this without being arrested. Got it?”

Ennoshita pursed his lips, looking ready to argue, but the steely look in Daichi’s eyes must have convinced him otherwise, because he nodded and glanced away.

“Alright, Daichi. Just… don’t get caught, alright? I don’t want the responsibility of taking over the research society if you do.” He looked back up at Daichi with a half smirk, and Daichi managed to crack a small smile.

“Who says you’d be in charge? Maybe I’d leave it to Asahi, you never know.”

At this, Ennoshita snorted and rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, right; let’s leave the biggest scaredy cat we know in charge of a ghost hunting group.” At this, Daichi couldn’t help but let out a bark of laughter as he shook his head.

“Yeah, yeah, alright, just get out of here, man. We’ll see you soon, I promise.” Daichi smiled reassuringly and Ennoshita nodded. They all headed back to the entrance together, mostly so Daichi could make sure that Ennoshita made it out safe. He watched as the man searched the four overgrown bushes before finally pulling an unconscious Asahi from the one closest to their van, and didn’t turn away until the van drove out of sight. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Suga looking up at him, a determined expression on his face.

“Tell me what we have to do, and let’s get it done.”

Daichi nodded, ignoring the faint pang in his heart, there to remind him that, _damn_ , he really loved this man. He’d have time for that later, after they helped their resident spirits cross over once and for all.

“Well,” he started, a little nervous, because he’d really meant it when he said that suga wouldn’t want to stay, “we have to go find the kids’ corpses.”

Suga stared at him, a little wide-eyed in his surprise, and Daichi was more than ready to tell him that he still had time to back out. Instead of disgust, however, Suga’s next words were just full of dismay.

“But their bodies were never found, even by the police… How’re we supposed to find them?”

Daichi smiled a small sad smile before answering.

“Luckily, or unluckily, I guess, I already know the answer. It’s sad, really, that these children know where they’re bodies are…” Suga frowned up at him before grabbing his forearm in a tight grip.

“We have to go set their souls free, Daichi; lead the way.”

 

* * *

 

It was almost like a cliché in a horror movie, having to go down to the lower levels of the hospital that were usually forbidden to be seen by anyone but the staff, in order to find the remains of nine children from 60 plus years ago. _Then again,_ Daichi thought to himself, _my whole life is like a horror movie cliché; why should this be any different?_ With their way only lit by the light of Suga’s flashlight (Daichi had lost his sometime between the first encounter in the chapel and his fainting spell), they had to watch for anything that could cause them to take a tumble down the stairs. Finally, they reached the basement level, and, following the directions given to him by Fumiko, Daichi led Suga through the empty corridors, only the sounds of the rubbed soles of their shoes against the smooth concrete floors filling the silence surrounding them. Neither spoke; Daichi wanted to keep his ears open for any word from the children, just in case he made a wrong turn or went too far.

Eventually, he halted before a set of large double doors, the sign above them reading **MORGUE**. He felt Suga shudder next to him before speaking in a soft whisper.

“They’re in the morgue? Wouldn’t that seem, you know, like an obvious place to check when the investigation was going on?”

Daichi glanced over at Suga before responding.

“It’s not easy to search if you don’t know where to look.”

Before Suga could respond with his confusion, Daichi pushed open one of the doors, wincing as its hinges let out a squeak that sounded more like a scream than rusted hinges. The two men made their way inside and Daichi directed Suga to point his flashlight toward a row of six filing cabinets, taller than both him and Daichi. Without warning, Daichi started pulling the cabinets away from the wall one by one, allowing the metal to grate on the concrete floors, and in turn, grate on their ears, until finally, behind the middle two, they discovered a heavy metal door that looked like it would open up to a walk-in freezer. Suga frowned at the sight of it behind the cabinets, pieces slowly falling into place in his head.

“Wait… if that door was covered up by filing cabinets, then that would mean…”

“The mortician was in on it,” Daichi finished for him, mouth set in a hard frown. “Normally, they kept this freezer open in case they had too many bodies, that way they wouldn’t decay. But after the killing started… the use for it changed.”

“I just don’t understand… Why would they kill these children?” Suga’s voice was heartbroken; he felt for these spirits, understood their pain and anger. Daichi glanced at him before answering.

“Most of these kids were abandoned here; if they died, no one would miss them, and the hospital wouldn’t have to worry about taking care of them anymore. However, they fucked up with their last two victims; Fumiko, whose estranged father ended up coming to claim her after her mother left her here when she was injured in a car wreck, and Mei, who wasn’t even abandoned, just on an extended hospital stay after surgery. After their cases blew up, more suspicion about other missing children started piling up, and the hospital was shut down. Why they didn’t just bury the kids, I’ll never understand. Instead, they left them in this freezer, and then left them to rot after the hospital was shut down instead of coming clean.” Daichi frowned at the door ahead of him, and waited until Suga came closer before opening the door.

The scent was immediate. Suga had to turn to the side in order to avoid throwing up on his own shoes, and Daichi wasn’t far behind. After emptying their stomachs, they both held their noses as they turned back toward the small freezer. There were nine body bags, all laid out on the floor and crusted with bodily fluid that had dried long ago. Suga couldn’t help but let a loud sob escape his lips as he looked at them, and had to turn away again. Daichi, instead of looking at the body bags, was looking straight ahead at where Fumiko was standing, her eyes no longer glowing white and her mouth no longer pulled into a wide smile; instead, it was pulled down in a heartbroken frown.

“Well, you found us, onii-san… This is all we ever amounted to: nine body bags.” Her voice was quiet, no longer menacing as it was before. Daichi suddenly understood why she had been so threatening; she needed him to find them, and the easiest way to make sure he did was to scare him into thinking he could lose his friends and Suga if he didn’t.

“I swear, we’ll bring you all to justice. I… I’ll send in an anonymous tip to the police, have them come and find you for themselves. Now that we know where you were hidden, it’ll be easy for them to get you out, to get you a proper burial, to get you closure.” Suga glanced up at him, realization dawning in his eyes when he figured Daichi must be talking to a spirit. He glanced around the small room, tears running down his face as he desperately searched for any sign of the spirit that was with them.

“You didn’t deserve this, none of you did. What those monsters did was vile, unforgivable. You didn’t deserve to die, and you definitely didn’t deserve to be left here.” Suga’s eyes were still searching wildly, and Fumiko smiled sadly up at him.

“Tell your boyfriend that his kind words mean a lot, but they do nothing to fix what has already been done.”

Daichi relayed Fumiko’s message to Suga quietly, which only caused him to cry harder. At this point, even Daichi was crying, but not enough to hinder his speech. He looked back at Fumiko, fighting back the pain that was threatening to tear his heart in two as he realized more of the children had started to appear before him, all standing by what he could only assume to be their bodies.

“I swear, you will be set free. If I fail, I give you full permission to haunt me until you are.” His voice was serious, despite wavering due to his tears. Fumiko nodded solemnly before gracing him with a gentle smile.

“I have full faith in you, onii-san.”

Beside her, Mei appeared and looked up at Daichi with tired, watery eyes. His blue lips shook gently and Fumiko reached out to hold his hand reassuringly, prompting him to finally speak.

“Thank you for not giving up on us, Dai-chan. I’m sorry for scaring you…”

Daichi smiled sadly, wiping his cheeks.

“I would never give up on a spirit that wants to finally be at peace. I hope that soon, you will be, too.”

A small squeeze of his hand directed his attention to Suga, who was done sobbing. He looked up at Daichi, eyes red but determined.

“Come on, Daichi; we have to report this to the police before we waste anymore time.”

Daichi nodded and gave the children one last goodbye before leaving with Suga as quickly as possible.

 

* * *

 

_“... and for our main headliner of the night, the bodies of the nine children who went missing in the Miyashi Hospital Case of 1953 have been discovered due to an anonymous tip to the local police. All nine bodies were found in a previously hidden room attached to the morgue, and have since been I.D.ed. Their families have been contacted, and memorial services will be held within the next week. The identity of the caller has yet to be discovered, as well as how their knowledge of the location of the bodies came about. On behalf of the families of the children, the police force, and everyone here at this station, however, we would like to offer our thanks in finally allowing the souls of these children to be put to rest. This has been Yum-”_

Daichi turned off the television with a sigh, allowing the anxiety in his stomach to finally unravel. He was grateful that the police actually found the children, and relieved that they were going to finally be put to rest soon. Obviously, the episode that they were planning on making around the hospital had been scrapped, and all data they’d collected had been deleted; if they’d posted it like planned, then it would’ve made the “anonymous caller” not so anonymous.

Beside him came a small sniffle, and he turned his head to lightly place a kiss in Suga’s hair.

“Hey, it’s okay, they’re gonna be at peace now…” Daichi’s voice was soft, crackling with his own emotion. Suga wiped at his eyes and shook his head before looking up at Daichi.

“I know, I know, I just… I still can’t get over the fact that it never should’ve happened in the first place, you know? These poor kids, they didn’t deserve any of that…” He trailed off and sniffled again as tears slipped down his cheeks. Daichi kissed his forehead and nose before gently wiping away his tears with the pad of his thumb.

“I know, Suga; I couldn’t agree with you more in that they deserved better, that they deserved to live. But at least now, they can be at peace, because we helped them. We found them, we didn’t let them stay hidden forever.”

Suga stayed quiet, opting instead to bury his face in Daichi’s chest.

It wasn’t until the day of the burial, however, that Daichi himself was finally able to be completely at peace. The burial and memorial services had been open to the public due to the case being so well known, and he had decided to attend in order to see the children being properly laid to rest. After all the caskets had been lowered, and the numerous flowers thrown, before him stood all nine children, no longer in the state that they had been in when they died. They all looked healthy, happy even, and it made Daichi’s heart squeeze in his chest. Fumiko stepped forward, her dark brown eyes glistening with what might have been tears.

“Thank you, onii-san, for fulfilling your promise. We are grateful for you, and your boyfriend. We will never forget you.” With one last smile, Fumiko and all of the children but one disappeared. Mei stared up at him, tears leaving tracks down his cheeks.

“Thank you for letting my parents find me, Dai-chan.” He glanced over to a sobbing elderly couple, holding each other close as they stood before their son’s grave. Mei smiled sadly before looking back at Daichi and giving him one last wave as he faded from view. Daichi let out a small, choked up sob and smiled quietly to himself before walking out of the cemetery and to his car where Suga was already waiting, letting him have the chance to be alone with the spirits one last time.

Seeing spirits had never been easy on him, ever since it first started happening, but recently he’s been thinking that maybe, just maybe, it’s not always bad.

**Author's Note:**

> If you made it through this, I'm honestly so happy. Please, please, please leave comments and kudos! This is probably the longest one-shot I've posted (maybe?), and I really, really hope you liked it. I know it's not your typical Coffee Shop!AU, but even if you just gave this a chance, I'm really grateful. anyway, you can always find me on [tumblr](http://chrisssenpai.tumblr.com), where I'm always ready to yell about, well, anything, really. Again, thank you for giving my weird fic a chance, and if you liked it, I hope you'll check out my other pieces! (They're not nearly as dark/weird/spooky as this one, I promise. Actually, most of them are like super fluffy. Like cotton candy.)


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